Quote:
Originally Posted by sandalwood
I've been reading about digital currencies (think Bitcoin) for several years. Sort of paying attention and sort of not. However, since major countries are now looking at Bitcoin and its counterparts with a favored eye it might be time to not sort of but to actually pay attention.
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Hi Tom,
Great topic!
About a month ago I went to a presentation by Bitcoin Group, which recently changed its name to Blockchain Global
http://www.blockchainglobal.com ... This is a company based in my city which makes money solely from Bitcoins and other cryptocurrencies...
It certainly opened my eyes!
Firstly, they make money from Bitcoins several ways...
For example, they make money by "Bitcoin mining"... That's where you have banks of computers doing complex mathematical calculations, and the reward for it is you get more Bitcoins. This is all built into the Bitcoin system.
While Bitcoin Group/Blockchain Global is an Australian company, they have many employees in China, along with many computers there, doing all the Bitcoin mining work.
They also make money from arbitrage of Bitcoins and other cryptocurrencies. I guess exchanges are still inefficient enough that you can sometimes buy Bitcoins at one exchange, then sell them at another instantly for a profit. (I don't know exactly how it works, but the market inefficiency makes it possible...) I wouldn't be surprised if what they do is automated or semi-automated...
Furthermore, there are many more opportunities in what's called blockchain, which is the technology underlying Bitcoin. There's the potential for blockchain, in future, to be applied to other industries, apart from currencies...
So I think there's a lot going on here. It's very complex stuff, though... I'm still in the process of getting my head around it!
Best wishes,
Dien